There exist various methods and systems in the fitness and/or health industries to determine training plans or to determine treatment plans for injuries or illnesses. However, there are no known methods and systems which can be used to accurately assess the risk of injury to a particulate athlete for a specific sport, and to provide a customized fitness program to address that risk of injury and improve the particular athlete's performance for that specific sport. Unlike the present methods and systems disclosed herein, these known methods and systems are wholly inadequate and inapplicable for determining risk of injury and for determining specific athletic performance training and treatment programs to address that risk of injury.
For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0138734 A1 published on May 30, 2013 to Crivello et al. discloses an interactive training method and system intended to develop peak user performance. The '734 system and method receives physical user data, medical history data and athletic goal data for the user, determines a baseline data set for the user, and generates a training routine for the user based on the baseline data set and the user data, including selecting a plurality of exercises for the user directed towards the athletic goal data. The '734 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '734 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,388,530 B2 issued on Mar. 5, 2013 to Shusterman discloses a personalized monitoring and healthcare information management system using physiological basis functions, which provides a medical assessment specific to neurology concerns. The '530 method and system is intended to provide a serial-analysis based on the concept of personalized basis functions, which are monitored to detect an individual's changes associated with specific physiological activity or a sequence, transition or combination of activities, that can be used for information management, decision support, and diagnosis. The '530 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '530 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0245973 A1 published on Sep. 27, 2012 to Pandya discloses methods for analyzing job functions and job candidates and for determining their co-suitability. The '973 system and method is used to conduct an elemental analysis of a job's functions and requirements, conduct a medical diagnosis of a worker to determine the physical capabilities and limitations of the worker, and compare the elemental analysis and the medical diagnosis to determine whether the worker can function in a particular job. The '973 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '973 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,996,242 B2 issued on Aug. 9, 2011 to Fueyo et al. discloses a method and system for automatically developing neuropsychiatric treatment plans based on neuroimage data. The '242 method and system receives a set of diagnoses for a patient, analyzes medical information in a set of electronic medical literature sources for potential therapies associated with treatment of each identified condition in the set of diagnoses, identifies the potential therapies associated with the treatment of each diagnosed condition, selects a set of recommended therapies from the potential therapies based on portions of the medical literature describing each therapy in the potential therapies and a medical history for the patient, and generates a treatment plan comprising the set of recommended therapies to treat each diagnosed condition in the set of diagnoses. The '242 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '242 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,615,342 B2 issued on Nov. 10, 2009 to North discloses an ACTN3 genotype screen for athletic performance. The '342 method and system is intended to select or match a sport or sporting event to an individual, predict athletic performance, and design training regimens by assessing ACTN3 genotype along with other known fitness-related genes and/or with physiological tests, physical measurements and/or psychological assessments. The '342 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '342 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0070144 A1 published on Mar. 12, 2009 to Haider discloses a method and system for stroke prevention and care. The '144 system and method is intended to evaluate patient risk factors and manage the care of patients with risk factors for neurological syndromes. A form-based data entry device is used to retrieve medical history data of a patient, to enter updated data, and to request further medical tests and studies. A rule-based analysis engine is used to process the data so as to permit a user to interact with the system so as to determine a suitable care path for either long-term or acute situations. The '144 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '144 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,264,554 B2 issued on Sep. 4, 2007 to Bentley discloses a method and system for analyzing and improving the performance of an athletic motion such as a golf swing. The '554 method and system requires instrumenting a user with inertial sensors and video cameras; monitoring a golf swing or such other athletic motion of interest; using a library of performance data for analysis of the test results to yield a single, kinetic index score for the motion; and prescribing a user-specific training regime with exercises selected from a library of standardized exercises using standardized tools and training aids. The '554 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '554 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0273359 A1 published on Dec. 8, 2005 to Young discloses a system and method of evaluating preoperative medical care and determining recommended tests based on patient health history and medical condition and nature of surgical procedure. The '359 system and method obtains patient health history through patient response questionnaires, and analyzes data to determine recommended preoperative medical testing. Evaluation tables of surgical procedures and corresponding preoperative medical tests are generated, and recommended preoperative medical testing as indicated from the evaluation tables is scheduled. The '359 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '359 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0015002 A1 published on Jan. 20, 2005 to Dixon et al. discloses an integrated protocol for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of bone mass degradation such as osteoporosis. The '002 system and method integrates bone mass measurement techniques with various preventive and treatment measures to create a protocol for the prevention and treatment of the bone related condition. The system measures a bone characteristic level in the patient's bones to yield a score, conducts a gait analysis to yield a gait characterization, measures a bone mass marker concentration in the patient's body fluids to yield a bone marker level, and prescribes one or more therapies. The '002 system and method differs significantly from the present methods and systems disclosed herein. Unlike the present method and system disclosed herein, the '002 system and method does not assess risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport, and does not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for the particular athlete for the specific sport, inter alia.
As can be seen, these known prior art methods and systems fail to address issues related to the risk of athletic injury. They do not contemplate, nor could they be adequately used in assessing such risk of injury for a particular athlete for a specific sport. They do not seek to improve athletic performance through customized athletic performance training and treatment programs/recommendations for a particular athlete for a specific sport. The level of testing, analysis, result communication and follow-up necessary for meaningful assessment of risk of athletic injury is not considered in any of these applications.
These known prior art methods and systems lack the ability to conduct and analyze a series of observational assessments and computerized muscle testing regimens, to assess risk of injury of a particular athlete for a particular sport, and to develop customized training and/or treatment recommendations and other relevant information in the manner achieved by the present method and system disclosed herein.
Accordingly, to address the limitations and disadvantages of the above methods and systems, a method and system for determining risk of injury and for determining specific athletic performance training and treatment programs to address that risk of injury is needed. The methods and systems disclosed herein fulfill such needs. It is desired that the presently disclosed methods and systems for providing the above benefits be applicable to any instances or applications wherein the assessment of risk of physical injury is to be analyzed.